Possibility

I feel...full.  But an anxious kind of full.  Full of love and emotion and life, wandering inside of me amongst swirls of uncertainty, not sure exactly where to place my energies or how to offer up all of the things that I wish to give.


I feel...possibility.  As if I'm cradled in a shell, so small and fragile, yet wanting so much, yearning to realize the potential that it's been said I have the capacity to possess.


     May I really fly?
                Is it really possible?
                         Can I really bloom into grandeur and soar amongst the beauty of the earth, numbered
                                     among the guardians and the exemplars, shining with light and truth?


Nay, it cannot be true...

And then I look to the light and think, but wait...how could it not be?

Forgetting

       It's so silly, really--forgetting. It's such a simple and common cause for such an eternally significant effect.  The danger of it is that it is almost unnoticeable--like a long strand of hair that slips quietly into the flowing breeze, or the moment of subtle change from late sunset into twilight.  We walk on--small, shifting moments all around us--but our focus is elsewhere, and it may be days, months, or years until we realize how much we have let disappear.
How many times have we doubted ourselves simply because we forgot the celestial beings we really are?
How many times have we bitterly wondered why we are here because we forgot in whose plan we first trusted?
How many times have our hope and faith faltered because we forgot about the matchless gifts of love our Savior has given us every step of the way?
How many times have we repeated a bad decision because we forgot what we once learned?
How much longer will we continue on in a state of stagnation because we forget the greatness we were sent here to achieve?
       Could it be that perhaps remembering these things would be among our greatest tools for success?
       What difference would it make if every day we woke up remembering these eternal truths?
It would have made a world of difference in my own life.

       Of course, I did not know I was forgetting.  I was once so strong and grounded.  Yet while I never lost the knowledge nor doubted it was real, somehow as days went by, I forgot what it meant to me.  I forgot that this truth was exactly what it was--true--and that it is glorious, personal, and life changing.  I never stopped living the teachings, but I forgot for awhile the important of who I am in the plan of things.
       Oh, how much sadness and discouragement I could have been saved if I had but remembered!
But here I am, reminded once more of all those things I have learned.  I feel renewed, strengthened, and I am happy again.


And my soul sighs, because remembering feels like home.

How Can I Keep From Singing?

Day twenty-two: A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.

        I do not have the capacity to voice words that adequately express my feelings for my Savior, but I know that I cannot truthfully write about this day post without trying to express them.
        The Savior has not only gotten me through the most in my life, He has gotten me through everything in my life.  He is my greatest friend.  I would be nowhere without His love, comfort, strength, support, and guidance.  He has never left me alone.  He has gone through so much and sacrificed everything for me so that I would be able to succeed.  Being a member of His true and living church on the earth today has brought me the most peace, joy, direction, meaning, beauty, strength, and happiness than anything else in the entire world.  I know wholeheartedly that I would be lost in misery without the knowledge of these sacred truths.  Jesus the Christ has given me everything and it is through Him that I will continue to make it through everything else.  Truly, no storm can shake my inmost calm.

              Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

The Iron Rod

Day seven: A picture of your most treasured item.

You know that question they always ask you in elementary school, "If your house were on fire and you could only grab three of your possessions, what would they be?"

                                 How do you really answer that at age 10?

Gameboy?  Favorite shirt?  Clumsily made scrapbook?  Wallet containing exactly seven dollars and 68 cents?

     Well, at age 19 I can finally answer that question with no doubt in my mind.  Amid clouds of smoke and rising flames, without a heartbeat going by I would grab my scriptures, my journal, and the stuffed animal I've had since I was a baby.  (I know, "ha ha--" okay, it means a lot to me!)  

This genuine leather, highlighted and underlined, glinting gold book means the world to me.  It couldn't be described better than as my most treasured item.

"...Come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul."  Jacob 2:8